LV 99 Final Fortress – Review
Follow Genre: RPG
Developer: Great Potion Games
Publisher: Great Potion Games
Platform: PC
Tested On: PC

LV 99 Final Fortress – Review

Site Score
8.0
Good: Fun Combat, Music, Worthwhile Exploration
Bad: Short, Lackluster Enemy Design
User Score
8.0
(2 votes)
Click to vote
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 8.0/10 (2 votes cast)

LV 99 Final Fortress can be considered a typical RPG by today’s standards, with strong comparisons to the early Final Fantasy and Golden Sun games. Albeit, with a slight twist on the RPG formula, LV 99 is an enjoyable game and beginner-friendly with beautiful sprite designs and a unique twist on turn-based combat.

Story

The story starts off with three of the main playable characters, Ariel who is considered the “Chosen One”, Billie, a talented dragonslayer, and Celsia, a former witch turned magician, on a balcony fortress overlooking the battle below. In the fortress, there is a magical barrier sealing two evil gods named Maradook and Gorth. You notice, a group of people is trying to revive them in order to bring about the end of civilization, and it’s up to the three girls to prevent that from happening. The twist to this story, however, is at the start, instead of the basic leveling systems starting at 1, the player starts at max level (99) basically skipping all the extra story and grinding that is expected from a standard RPG.

This was actually interesting to see how an RPG, a genre that is well known for slow progression and immersion, can be flipped entirely. Scrapping the basic mould that, for the most part, makes up the genre as a whole. Surprisingly, the game does it really well, adding the extra dialogue and story context when needed in small ways such as conversing with NPCs in the hub area, and the dialogue between playable characters when traversing through the fortress. Considering that the game can be completed in less than five hours, the extra dialogue was a well-placed touch.

Graphics

As with most 2D based RPGs, most of the graphic details are based on pixelated sprite animations and this game is no slouch. Each character’s sprite design is very well done especially with the NPCs the player will encounter. During combat, certain elemental spells and abilities used are well animated also, even compared to the same designs in more popular games in the RPG genre. The enemies, however, don’t really exhibit the same notion, which isn’t really a bad thing, just slightly disappointing. Also, some of the enemies the player will encounter are actually really unique such as the Walking Graveyard boss.

From a technical standpoint, the game can literally run on any PC with not really much to customize in graphical settings, besides having the option to switch the screen setting to either windowed or fullscreen, which was to be expected. 

Sound 

LV 99, as expected, doesn’t have any kind of voice acting, instead, the main focus is based on the background music in battles, traversal and sound effects. The music is most likely the best part of this area, especially in battle. It does a fantastic job blending chiptune style and upbeat music together, making fights more exciting. It’s actually ironic the music fits so well because it can be compared to “final boss” music, which is the whole premise of the game. The special effects are good but not much to talk about. The majority of spells and attacks that can be used by both of the enemies and players are somewhat recycled making this area quite dull.

Gameplay

LV 99 is a traditional RPG, with typical-turn based combat, puzzles and side-quests. The game offers full controller support and full mouse support, meaning players can play through the entire game without even using a keyboard. As mentioned before, the game subtracts the grind which is usually seen in most RPGs in favor of throwing the player straight into the madness being at the highest level possible. And in turn, all the enemies the player fights will be strong also, meaning that the game still has some sort of strategy and depth.

The format is simple, but taking a more rogue-like approach to gameplay than is advertised. Such as having a main hub area where players can return to, to acquire equipment and upgrades from NPCs. The standard fare is available such as equipment and item shops, there’s also an NPC that can apply permanent boosts to health potions. Considering the hub area is similar to rogue-like games, the game itself is still an RPG, meaning there isn’t any form of perma-death or losing equipment when falling in battle.

The main goal of the game is to collect three keys to unlock the seal to the room where the gods Maradook and Gorth reside. The player travels to different rooms each with a different goal in mind that’s noted in the top left area of the screen. Battle rooms, which are areas where players have to defeat a specific boss, which rewards stat boosts and weapons, and puzzle rooms, areas where the player will have to solve different types of puzzles in order to progress, such as moving boulders and platforming.

There are optional enemies and rooms the player can find when traversing which usually reward stat boosts and bonus equipment which is very important, considering that the player receives no experience. There are even certain side-quests and a fourth playable character players can find while traveling, adding more depth to exploration.

The combat stays true to the RPG format but has small unique changes that make combat more interesting. Combat is fully turn-based, with all the basic options available like attacking, guarding, using magic, skills, and items. Rather than having a surplus of overpowered moves available from the start, each character starts off with one skill. Over time in battle, more moves are made available adding more strategy and depth to battles as time goes on. The battles vary greatly with some fights leaving the player heavily outnumbered relying on defense and picking specific enemies to focus on, and some enemies focusing heavily on stat ailments and debuffs with large amounts of HP, making each fight equally difficult and unique.

Conclusion

LV 99 Final Fortress is a very enjoyable RPG, even if the game is pretty short. Aside from its five-hour timespan, the characters, music, and unique take on traditional RPG mechanics make the short playthrough well worth it. It’s a good starting point for new players getting interested in the RPG genre, despite the hefty grind and a better pastime for veterans alike.

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 8.0/10 (2 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: -1 (from 1 vote)
LV 99 Final Fortress - Review, 8.0 out of 10 based on 2 ratings

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